huhnd



Sept. 15, 1925.- v 1,553,900

W. HUHND MACHINE FOR THEMANUFACTURE OF STRIPS OF MATCHES FOR BOOKMATCHES MADE OF WOOD, CARDBOARD, AND THE LIKE Filed July 3, 1925 6Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Ire-Z7782, Iubnd 1 ATTORNEYS W. MACHINE FOR THEMANUFACTURE OF STRIPS 0F MATCHES FOR BOOK MATCHES Sept. 15, 1925.

HUHND m W m Q a Q r "H m l I I "l I I I I I L I HI I I I "\P s r am e Qmum OF woon, CARDBOARD, AND THE LIKE Filed July 1925 frwfliZoz'fiiz/if/ifljfu/ifld Sept.

' 'W. HUHND MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STRIPS 0F MATCHES FOR BOOKMATCHES MADE OF WOOD, CARDBOARD, AND THE LIKE Filed July 5, 1925 6Sheets-Sheet 4.

s 1 l v A i i ,w I ,w! 9 i m i l V I 1191f u (94 k,

lip/6 IHIHIIIW Sept. 15', 1925. I 1,553,900

A W. HUHND MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STRIPS OF MATCHES FOR BOOKMATCHES IIADE OF woon, CARDBOARD, AND THE' LIKE Filed July 5, 1925 I 6Sheets-Sheet 5 P- 83 I r 4h 63 o 5 f 8. 60 H 1 .25 s I 9 pg 1. V --l-L.H 4* I: 111i n v w awk Sept. 15, 1925. A

. 1,553,900 w. HUHND MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STRIPS OF MATCHESFOR BOOK MATCHES MADE OF WOOD, CARDBOARD, AND THE LIKE Filed July 3,1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 cutto the next, soqthat the cut-out ,At, t hesanietime the individual anotherbreadthwise, j The strips of matches Q ofonehalf .ofthe blank are then seized by Patented Sept. 15, 1925. f

, UNITED STATES WILHELI HUm, or ,sEnLni, mm; assmnoa TO THE rnm ncm- '1a lieaeo ga d m a,

To all it 'mgjconce'm:

- J 'Beit1lmown.that-I, WIL Hanan, a citizen] of the'GermanEmpire,'"re'siding at Putbuserstrasse 45, Berlin N. 1 31,) Germany, haveinvented certain new and useful, Im-

provementsf'in a Machine for the Manufacture'of Strips of Matches forBook Matches Made of Wood, Cardboard, and the like (for- ;which I havefiled a plicationin Germany, May 7, 1924); and do hereby declare thefollowing to-be a iull, 'clear, and-'cxact de-. ,scri tion ofthe-invention. 1 r

isinvention relates to a machine for the automatic manufacture of stripsof matches made of wood, cardboard or. the

like, which can be unitedto formt'he knownbook matches. Hitherto. thestrips of ,m'atches use'd for book m atches could .only

manufacturedby separate working procin which moreover waste always :00-:curred'by stamping the inted tips out of thepie'ce'of. materlal. hiswaste is completely obviated by the machine according I to the inventionand the manufacture of the strips of matches is efi'ected automaticallyin a single continuous working process so that there is a materialsaving in labour and time. r a

The working process consists essentially in'the fact that a'blank ofwood, cardboard i'or the like corresponding to the breadth of a numberof-strips of 'matches'isffirst cut up longitudinally and transversely byde- 'pressi a" cutter block or knife head in such the longitudinalcutsseparating the. ndividual match sticks from one an otherdisplaced-relatively to one another by half the breadth of, one stickand the cut formingfthetipsi runs zigzag from one Ion-- sticksiinterengage with. one another with 'stripsof matches, are separatedfrom, ".one

- m5 equalli number "*of grippers, rotated through and located edgewisein'a colwlectin comb. Meanwhile the knifehead to which the second halfof the blank still clings between the knives hasbeen-rotated through 180with this half of the blank, whereuponthe correspondingly raisedgrippers seize the strips of matches of the second nscmmsanmx, orBERLIN, GERMANY.-

to ther.

. 1,553,900 PATENT, orr cs- A. ROLLER,

Ti. I NUiAc' fUBE or s'rmrs or 111mm 3 Boo-x REES, Mana,.o oon,cameo-Ann, Ann mm mm r 1952}; Serial 110, guess:

haliffo f the blank and lodge them after r0- tating them through 90 inthe collecting comb, which has meanwhile been shifted laterally onedivision, so that the strips of matches of both halves are located sideby sideon edge in the collecting comb. Meanwhile afresh strip is broughtunder the knife head and iscut up in the same manher into two strips ofmatches, which in turn are deposited beside the strips of matchesalready placed. in the collecting comb. This process is repeated untilthe wholeof the collectin comb is filled with strips of matches stan ingon .edge side by side. The collecting comb is then pushed forwardagainst. an endless chain, which is rovided with carrying ledgescorrespondingto the collecting comb. Into one of these carr ing ledgesthe strips of matches are pushe from the collecting comb and are clampedin the carrying ledge' whereupon they are conveyed by the continuouslymoving carrying ledge chain, one after the posited on a band conveyor.

One constructional example of such a machine is diagrammaticallyillustrated longitudinal section in Figure 1; Figures 2 and 3 showtheblank to be worked up, before and after being cut up into separatesticks.

Figure 4 shows one larger scale two strips cut out of the blank.

TEigure 5 shows a finishedstrip of matches, an w Figure 6 a pair offinished glued igures 7. to 9 showin sectional elevation the apparatusfor cutting up the blank and -for laying the strips in-the collectingcomb, as well as for pushin g thy strips into the carrying-ledge chain;

' Figure 10 shows a cross a carrying'ledge.

Figures 11,12 and 13 are longitudinal sections throu h a carrying ledge,showing different positions of the slider that clamps the strips.

Figure 14 shows the collecting comb in front elevation I kction throughFigure 15 shows one of the grippers for lodging the strips in thecollecting comb.

Figure 16 shows one of the half blanks with the stripsvafter cutting up.Figures 17 to 20 show diagrammatically the'method of inserting thestrips in the collecting comb.

Figures 21 and 22 show in side elevation the apparatus for opening andclosing the grippers.

Figures 23 and 24 show this apparatus in front elevation in twodifferent positions.

Figures 25 and 26 show in horizontal longitudinal section in twodifferent positions the apparatus for pushing the strips into a carryingledge.

Figure 27 shows on a larger scale a horizontal section through theknives.

Figure 28 is a view thereof-from below.

Figure 29 shows the knife beam in front elevation. and in sectionalelevation.

Figures 30 and 31 show in longitudinal section and in front elevationrespectively aid-special constructional form of a carrying e ge. a

Figures 32 and 33 show diagrammatically the position of the match headsbefore and after the displacement of the clamping rail of the carryingledge illustrated in Figures 30 and 31.

The blanks 1 (Fig. 2) intended for the manufacture of the match sticks,which may consist for example of wood, are partly cut through duringtheir manufacture at acertain distance from the edges by two parallelcuts 90 which are intended to facilitate the breaking off of the matchsticks. The blanks are then cut up into lengths of one metre for examplecorresponding to the breadth of the machine, and then laid in thereceptacle 2 (Figs. 7 to 9) under which the stick-pusher 3 is arranged.The latter is provided in a known manner with a forwardly projectingedge, which, when the stick-pusher is pushed forwards, takes with it thelowermost stick and pushes it under thek-nife-carrier 4.

With the stick-pusher 3 there engages, by means of a link 5, a lever 6secured'to a shaft 7, which is driven by a connecting rod 13-, having aroller 12 which bears against a cam disc 8 secured to a shaft 11. Theshaft 11 receives itsdrive by means of gear wheels 9 and 10.

The knife head 4 is provided with a longitudinal knife or cutter 80(Figs. 28 and 29) the edge of which is of zigzag shape so that it formsthe central zigzag-shaped longitudinal cut 93 (Figure For cutting up theblank into separate strips of matches.

94 (Figs. 5 and 16) there serve the knives 35 (Figs.-27, 28 and 29)which make the cuts 91 (Figure 3) and are held by intermediate plates74. Between these knives there are shorter knives 78, which make the cut92 running from the zigzag-shaped central cut 93 to the partial cuts 90,theindividual match sticks 95 being formed by the said cuts 92. Theseknives 78 are held by the intermediate plates at a predetermineddistance from one another. The knives 78 are held together with theintermediate plates 74 and 75 by screws 96 in groups which, as a whole,may be located between. the separating knives 35. The;

knives pass only sofar downwards out of the intermediate plates as isnecessary for cutting through the thin blank. It is therefore possibleto utilize such thin knives that it becomes superfluous to sharpen them.By means of claws 77 (Fig. 29) the groups of knives are secured totheknife-carrier 4 and by means of screws 82 are adjusted in thelongitudinal direction to the centrali zigzag knife 80. In order to beable to.

shaft 11, by means of the connecting rod.

14, the knife-carrier being guided between the cheeks 15. By thisdownward movement of the knife-carrier the blank is cut up into separatestrips 94 (Fig. 4), which, however, still adhere to the knives. Afterthe cut is completed the knife head goes back again into its originalposition.

Meanwhile grippers 16, the number of which corresponds to the number ofstrips 94, are pushed forward against the strips 94. These grippers arerotatably supported I in a gripper-holder 18, which is displaceable in avertical uide of aguide block 17 which is displaceaile in ahorizontaldirection, so that all the grippers can not only bedisp-lacedhorizontally but also moved up and down. The horizontaldisplacement of the gripper-holder is effected by means of a lever 21rotatable about a bolt 20, the said lever engaging at its upper end witha pin 19 on the guiding block 17 and at its lower end carrying a roller23, which bears'against a grooved disc 22 secured to the shaft 11. Thevertical displacement of the gripperholder 18 is effected, by means ofthe connecting rod 27, the upper end 'of which engages on the pin 28 ofthe gripper-holder, by the bell-crank lever 25, 26 journalled on theshaft 7,.the arm 25 of the said bellcrank lever carrying at its outerend a roller 24, which bears against a. grooved disc, not definitelyshown, secured to the movable member. The latter is normally pressed bya spring 31 towards the stationstationary stops 84 22).

'18 and disp ary member, so as to'closethe gripper. The

opening of the gripper is effected by means of a bell-crankjlever 83(Figs. 21- and 22) 'ournalled on the gripper-holder, the said ll-cranklever acting with a roller 86 fitted onto its shortarm upon the bevelledsurface of. an angle bar 29 in such a manner that the latter is ushedforward against the grip rs. It t en ushes a pin 30 against t e lowerarm of t e movable member so that the gi ii fiper is opened, as shown inFigure 21. e rocking of the bellcrank lever is effected by strikingagainst (Fig. 21) and 85 (Fig.

When the grippers are opened in this manner they are ushed forwardagainst the strips 94 and t en closed again, so that ,they seize thestrips that are facing the grippers and hold t em fast. The grippers arethen moved away from the storage receptacle by displacing the guideblock' 17, in order to bring the'strips seized by the grippers above theteeth of a collecting comb 32.

For this purpose, the stri held by the grippers must be transferred outof a hori zontal into a vertical position. This is effected by rotatingthe grippers 16 about their axes. To the rear ends of the axes arefitted toothed wheels 34 which engage with.

a rack 33 guided upon the gripper-holder 'aceablein its longitudinaldirection. This rack is provided at its end with a roller 87 (Figs. 23and 24) which is drawn by a spring against a lateral guiding rail 89,which is provided with ara'mp 88.

If the gripper-holder is guided past this tion they are openedagain bythe angle bar vertically .u wa

29 moving forward, so that they releasethe strips 94,where1l m thegrippers are pushed again -Meanwhi e the stickusher 3 has begun itsreturn stroke in or or to take a fresh strip out of the receptacle 2.During this return stroke the cutterhead 4 is rotated through 180, forthe stick-pusher 3 is provided with an adjusting iece 36 to which a rack37 is pivoted, w ich is kept a in engagement by a spring 38 with atoothed wheel 39 secured to the cutter head 4.

During the rearward movement of the strippusher the cutter head 4istherefore rotated out of the position illustrated in Figure 8throughthat of Figure 9 into that illus trated in Figure 7, so that theknives are now directed upwards. To the cutters there still adherethestrips facing the receptacle 2 during the cutting of the matchstrips, which now with their outer edges stand facing the grippers 6which are meanwhile brought into their highest position. (Fig. 7).

The gri pers- 16 are now opened again and pushe forward in order to takeofi'aiso this second series of strips from the cutter head and place itafter rotating it through 90 in the collecting comb 32 which hasmeanwhile shifted one division in the longitudinal direction. Thisdisplacement is efl'ected by means of an eccentric 69 (F iga 14)connected with the'comb, the said eccentric engaging in a correspondingguide in the machine frame 48 and being rotated by a feed mechanism, notshown, which engages at each upward and downward movementof the gripperholder in a feed wheel 68 connected with the eccentric, the extent ofthe rotation being such that the comb isdisplaced one division. If thissecond series of strips is deposited in the collecting combs 32 they liein the same groups of two sheets each-side by side on edge asdiagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 18. Upon the next operation of themachine two further series ofstri'ps are then deposited inthe comb sothat the latter exhibits first, groups of three and then groups of fourstrips lying side by side by which, in the example illustrated,the

comb is filled.

In the arrangement of the knives illustrated the zigzag knife does notlie exactly in the centre-line but somewhat away from it SO that thesticks of one series of I strips come out longer than those of the otherseries. This is for the purpose of producingi pairs of strips in which,as illustrated in Fig. 6, the match heads do not lie directly ne uponthe other, but are displaced rel a gitudinal direction of the sticks.The match heads of the strips assembled tb form with one another.

tively to one another in the lon- V When the collecting comb 32 isfilled with I strips, the strips must be transferred to. thecarryingledges 50 of an endless and continuously moving transportingchain which conveys them to the positions for further treatment. Themoving of the .collecting comb 32 to the carrying ledges 50 is effectedbymeans of a cam cylinder 42 (Fig. 7) which is-set in rotation by aworm- 41 mounted on the shaft 7. In the groove of this cam cylinder.runs the roller 43 of a lever 44 which is connected at its upper end bya connecting rod 45 with a thrust, comb '46 arranged behind'thecollectingkcomb 32. This thrust a book, cannot therefore come intocontact comb, the teeth of which face the gaps between the teeth of thecollecting comb, is

' pressed away from the collecting comb by a compression spring 49 sothat the two combs are first fed forward together towards the carryingledge 50 without their relative position being altered. The collectingcomb is thus guided in oblique slots 47 in the machine frame. Theseguiding slots are oblique because the carrying ledge 50 of the endlesstransporting chain to be filled moves onward during the insertion of thestrips. When the collecting comb 32 has arrived at theend of the guidingslots 47 it is arrested while the thrust comb. 46 is moved further onso'that its teeth penetrate, owing to the compression of the spring 49into the interstices of, the collecting comb 32 and push out the stripslocated therein and push them into the corresponding interstices of thecarrying ledge 50 (Figs. and 26). The strips'94,are thus pushed into thecarrying ledge with. their adhering edgein front,

while the headsjntended for-the reception of the ignition mass projectout of the carrying ledge towards the .outer side facing the storagereceptacle 2 and the cutting and conveying apparatus.

For securing the match. strips 94 in the. carrying ledges 50 thefollowing arrangement-is employed. The carrying ledges 50 are providedon the outside withtwo station'ary grid plates 51 located one behind theother, between which is displaceably arrangeda movable grid plate 52(Fig. 13) provided with similar apertures and bars. This latter gridplate is influenced b 'a spring 57 which tends toshift the sli ing grid52 in such a way that its bars lie opposite to the apertures in .thestationary grid plates 51. While, however,-the carrymg ledge 50 to befilled, lies opposite to the collecting comb 32 and thrust comb 46, aroller 97 supported on the stationary ma chine frame 48 presses thesliding grid 52 against the action of the s ring 57 so far back that itsapertures register with those .of the stationary grid plates 51, asillustrated in Fig. 13, so that the match strips 94 can be pushedwithout hindrance out of N the collecting comb into the apertures of'thecarrying ledge. Further along the path of the transporting chainthe'carrying ledge comes out of contact with the roller 97 so that nowthe spring 57 comes into action ahd shifts the sliding grid 52 in such away that the match strips that have been pushed in are firmly nippedbetween the sliding grid and the stationary grid lates. v v On theopposite side 0 the carrying ledge 50 are arranged two sliding grids 53and 54 movable relatively to one another, the

apertures of which are so wide that the embrace two associated matchstrips as ilustrated in Fig. 11. These slider grids are frame at theside, the lateral attachments 53 54 of the sliders 53 and 54 come toposition with the flattened parts 60, wherein the sliders shiftrelatively to one another, as will be hereinafter explained.

The carrying ledges 5O filled with strips of matches and united toform'an endless chain, are then guided, one after the other through adrying chamber 98 (Fig. 1) and to the paraflining apparatus 99 and thedipping apparatus 100, where the strips are treated in a known manner.They then come to the gluin apparatus 101 (Fig. 11) which is provide foreach second strip of matches with a transferring disc 72. These discswhich dip atthe bottom into the glue container L are secured with balljoints to the shaft and areso guided in aguide plate 71 provided withobiique" guide slots that with their bevelled edges they pass laterallyalong in contact with the lower end of the rather long strip of matchsticks. This plate 71 serves at the same time to wipe off the excessglue. In order to be a le to glue the strips of matches together inpairs by their rear edges, as illustrated in Fig. 6 the sliding grlds 51and 52 of the carrying ledge 50 roller 58 (Fig. 1) arranged behindthe'gluinto contact by their uncut edges with a ing apparatus, the saidroller displacing the' gluedwedges of the strips of matches so-farthatthese edges lie at the same hei ht as the adjacent unglued edges ofthe s orter match strips. The sliders 53 and 54 (Fig.

13) located on the inner side of the carrying ledge are then closed, thearm 62 of the bolt 56 coming into'contact with the aforementioned stopso that the bolt is rotated through 90 and the attachments 53 and 54 ofthe sliders bear against the flattened parts 60.1 By this means thesliders 53 and 54 are brought into the position illustrated in Fig. 12in which they press the ends of two adjacent match strips each againstone another so that they. are glued to ether.

when the glued part is dried the arm 62 of the bolt 56 is rotated backthrough 90 by the stop sothat the sliders 53 and 54 are opened again. Atthe same time also the opp site slider 52 is opened so that the stripsof matches are no longer hold fast in the ledge. j They then comewithinmac grippers 59 (Figs. 1 and 7) which act in the same manner as thegrippers 16.,

I These grippers are arranged on av gripper holder 63 which is movedbackwards and. forwards in guides 65 by means of a con-,

'nectihg rod 64 rthe grippers alternately 0 v I0 strips of matches outof the car ing led "50 and deposit them upon t e endless d 66 runningtransversely to the machine and this band conveys them out of hemachine.

Ifthe, match sticks 95 are out very narrow it may easily happen that thematch :heads ofiadjacent matches stick together. This can be prevented bbending the match sticksfifi of the indivi 31alstrips 94 in the ledge 50alternately away from one I I r so that the. heads no r lie side by sidein one row as shown in ig. 32,- but in a zi ag row (F ig.33). This isrendered possib e by the fact that the bars of the stationary gridplates 512015 the carrying ledges are provided with projections 102(Figs. and3l) and the bars of the sliding grid 52 with projections 103,staggered relatively to the first mentioned projections, which bend theadjacentsticks 95 of the strip 94 alternately to lustrated in F ig. 30.0 heads of the matches, owing to this zigza are separated from one anoer by such a distance that the sticking together of the ignitionmaterial of adjacent heads is no longer to be feared.

-- I claim; L-A machine for the automatic manuof strips of matches, astamping cutter havin a blade of zigzag formation for longitu 'nallycutting the pieces of material and spaced blades for cutting the stripstransversely on o posite sides of the zigzag cutter so that t eindividual sticks on one side will be in, staggered relation with theindividual sticks on the'other side of the ag cutter anddisplacedrelation tosaid fit mentioned sticks, a collecting W comb, andmeans for arranging the out strips in the collecting comb so that thehalves of the strips formed by the zigzag out are arranged m successionwith the tips directed toward the same side and along one edge, meansfor shifting the collecting combrlatmu an endless trans ortingchainprovided with holders, means .for trans ferring the half strips ofmatchesto' the holders on the endless trans orting chain arrangementatter each shifting. of theco lectin'gcomb,

. said endless chain conveying thestrips of matches along a path for aplurality of finishinioperations. I

2., machineaccording to claim 1 characterized by the fact that thezigzag shaped and closing so that they pull the opippsite sides, asil.-'-

blade is located to one side ofthe center hne of the match strip so thatthe match headsof the two halves are at different di stances from thetearin 'oflf edge.

3. A machine accor g toclaim 1 and characterized by a strip pusherproviding a support-for the blanks during the cutting,

' grippers adap to remove one half of the cut strip of matches anddeposit the samein the collecting comb,- means for rotating the strippusher through 180 for presenting the second half of the strip withvthetips di in the same direction as the first half of the strip to thegripper, means for moving the grippers opposite the second" half of thestrip, and means for causing the grippers to seize the second half ofthe ing. comb. i 4. A machine for the automatic manufacture of strips ofmatches, a stamping cutter having. a blade of zigzag formationforlongitudinally cutting the pieces of ma terial and spaced blades forcutting the strips transversely on'opposite sides of the zigzag cutterso that the individual sticks on strips and deposit the same in thecollectone side will be in staggered relation with the individual stickson the other side of the zifiag cutterand displaced relation to said stmentioned sticks, a collecting comb, and means for arranging the cutstrips in the collecting comb so that the halves of the strips formed bythe zigzag out are arranged in succession with the tips ,directedtowards the same side and along one edge, means for shifting thecollecting comb lateral] an endless transporting chain provide .withholders, and means for transferring the half strips of matches to theholders on the endless transporting chain after each shifting of thecollecting v comb, said endless chain conveyin the strips of matchesalong a path for a p urality of finishing operations, said means for.arranging the strips in the combs comprising grippers, means forrotatingthe grippers through an arc of so that said grippers will deposit thematch s'tri s onan edge and side by side in the collectlng comb.

5. A machine according to claim 1 and characterized by a strip pusherproviding a support for the blanks during" the cutting, gnppers adaptedto remove one half of the cut strip of matches and depositthe same in.the collecting comb, means for rotating the strip pusher through 180 forpresenting the second half of the strip with the tips disposed in-thesame directionas the first half of the strip to the gripper, means formovin the grippers opposite the second half 0 the strip, and means forcausing the grippers to seize the second half of the strips and depositthe same in the collecting comb, means for rotating the grippers throughan arc of 90 so that said grippers the zigzag cutter and displacedrelation to transferring the half strips of matches to said firstmentioned sticks, a collecting comb, and means for arranging the cutstrips in *the collecting comb so that the halves of the strips formedby the zigzag out are arranged in succession with the tips directedtowards the same side and along one edge, means for shifting thecollecting comb Iaterall an endless transporting chain provide withholders, and means for ,the holders on the endless transporting chainafter each shifting of the collecting comb, said endless chain conveyingthe strips of matches along a path for a plurality of finishingoperations, a thrust comb I located at the rear of the collecting comb,

a spring connected with the thrust comb, means for placing temporarilythe spring undertension and releasing said spring to move the thrustcomb towards the collect-.

ing comb, the spring continuing to move the thrust .and collecting combsforwardly, and

a stop for arresting the movement of the collecting comb whilepermitting continuing movement of the thrust comb, whereby the teeth ofthe thrust comb are forcedv between the teeth ofthe collecting comb toforce the strips of matches out of the collecting comb, and a carryingledge to receive the strips ofmatches. s

7. A machine, for the automatic manufacture of strips of matches, astamping cutter having 'a blade of zigzag formation for longitudinallycutting the pieces of material and spaced blades for cutting the strips.

transversely on opposite sides of the zigzag cutter so that theindividual sticks on one side will be in staggered relation with theindividual sticks on the other side of the zigzag cutter and displacedrelation to said rst mentioned sticks, a collectin 5 ,comb, and meansfor arranging the on strips in the collecting comb so that the halves ofthe strips formed by the zigzag out are arranged in succession with thetips directed towardsthe same side and along one edge, means forshifting the collecting comb laterally, an endless transporting chainprovided with holders, and means for transferring the half strips ofmatches to the holders on the endless trans orting chain after eachshifting of the co lecting comb, said endless chain conveying the stripsof matches along a path for a plurality of finishing operations, athrust comb located at the rear of the collecting comb, a springconnected with the thrust comb, means for placing temporarily the springunder tension and releasing said spring to move the thrust comb towardsthe collecting comb, the spring continuing to move the thrust andcollecting combs forwardly, and a stop for arrestin the movement of thecollectin cornbwhi e continuin movement of the t rust comb, whereby t eteeth of the thrust comb are forced between the teeth of the collectingcomb to force the strips of matches out of the collecting comb, andcarrying ledge to receive the strips of matches, said carrying ledge.being provided with a pair. of stationary grid plates and a sliding gridlocated between the stationary plates and having apertures to receivethe individual matches, a spring for moving the sliding grid intoengagement with the strips of matches for clamping the matches againstthe stationary grids. I

8. A machine for the automatic manufacture of strips of matches, astamping cutter having a blade ofzigzag formation for longitudinallycutting the pieces of material and spaced blades for cutting the stripstransversely on opposite sides of the zigzag cutter so that theindividual sticks on oneside will be in staggered relation with theindividual sticks on the other side of the zigzag cutter and displacedrelation to said first mentioned sticks, a collecting comb, and meansfor arranging the out "strips in the collecting comb so that the halvesof the strips formed by the zigzag out are arranged in succession withthe tips directed towards the same side and along one edge, means forshifting the collecting comb "laterally, an endless transporting chainprovided with'holders, and means for transferring the half strips ofmatchesto the holders on the endless transporting chain after eachshifting of the collecting comb, said endless chain conveyin the stripsof matches along a path for a p urality of finishing operations, athrust comb located at the rear of the collecting comb,

a spring connected with the thrust comb,

means for placin temporarily the spring" under tension and releasingsaid spring to move the thrust comb towards the. collecting comb, thespring continuing to move the thrust and collecting combs forwardly, anda stop for, arresting the movement of the collecting comb whilecontinuing movement of the thrust comb, whereby the teeth of thethrust-comb are forced between the teeth of the collectin comb to forcethe strips of matches out of t e collecting comb,,and carrying ledge-toreceive the strips of matches, said carrying ledge being provided with apair of stationary grid plates and a sliding grid located between thestationary lates and having apertures to receive the in ividual matches,a spring for moving the sliding grid into engagement with the strips of6 matches for clamping the matches against the stationary grids, meansfor applying a cement to the ends of a pair of strips which is oppositeto the tips and means for f0rcing the cemented ends into contactwitheach other. 10

- In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

WILHELM HUHND.

